Air-engine



I I 3 Sheets-Shasta 1. J. A. WOODBURY, J. MERRILL, G. PATT EN, &

E. F; WOODBURY.

Air-Engine. No..228 ,7l4. v Patented June 8,1880.

F1391 V Inventors:

Witnesses: James flJl bodbury,

, Joshua/Merritt,

, aeorgelatten,

N-PETLRS, FHOTO-UTHOGRA iHER. WASHINGTON. D. Q

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. A. WOODBURY, J. MERRILL, G. PATTEN, &

E. F. WOODBURY.

Air-Engine. No. 228,714. Patented June 8, @88.

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Q L Q Ga Fig.2. Inventors: Witnesses: James .11. l Vo'odbury 67 3f @6 Joshua Merrill,

I a Pzt I eorge a an N-PEIEBS, FHOTO-IJTHOGRAPHER, WASHWGTON, D C.

. s ssssssssss 0113. J. A. WOODBURY, (I. MERRILL G; PATTEN, & E. F. WOODBURY.

Air-Engine; No. 228,714. Patented'lune 8,1880.

George fatten} W n es: A

JoshuaM ill,

by morn/(3y;

JAMES A. WOODBURY, JOSHUA MERRILL, GEORGE PATTEN, AND EDWARD F. WOODBURY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AlR-ENG'INE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,714, dated June 8, 1880.

Application filed May 1, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J AMES A. WOODBURY, JOSHUA MERRILL, GEO. PATTEN, and ED- WARD FRANKLIN \VOODBURY, all of Boston, in

the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Air-Engines, (Case 0,) of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification.

Our invention relates to that class of air-engines in which a workingcylindcr is used in combination with a reversing-cylinder, and operated by compressed air by alternately heating and cooling it upon one side of the work- I 5 ing-piston, while the air upon the other side of said piston remains at its normal temperature; and it consists, first, in the combina tion of two single-acting Working-cylinders, each provided with a furnace or other means of applying heat to them, and two reversercylinders connected therewith and provided with pistons adapted to displace the air from one end and transfer it to the other, and thereby control the movements of the workingpiston.

It further consists in the combination of two reverser-cylinders, each provided with a furnace or other means of applying heat thereto, and a piston adapted to displace the air from 0 one end and transfer it to the other end, and

two sin gleacting working-cylinders, each having free communication with said reversingcylinders, as will be described.

It further consists in the combination of two 3 5 single-acting working-cylinders having the chambers above their pistons connected by a pipe or other free and open passage, two reverser-cylinders having direct communication with the chambers beneath the working-pis- 0 tons, and a furnace or other means of applying heat to each of the reversing-cylinders or the working-cylinders.

It further consists in the combination of two WOIlKlDg'GYllIKIGIS, two reverser-cylinders, and

5 furnaces or other means of applying heat to each of said cylinders.

It further consists in the combination of two single-acting working-cylinders provided with reciprocating pistons and adapted to be charged with air under pressure upon both sides of said pistons, and to be operated by alternately heating and cooling the air upon one side of said pistons, while the air upon the other sides thereof remains at its normal temperature, and a pipe or passage connecting the chambers in the cool ends of said cylinders with each other for the purpose of equalizing the pressure in said cold chambers, as will be described.

It furtlier consists in the combination of two cylinders, each provided with a reciprocating piston, two beams connected together at their contiguous ends by a suitable link or links, and means of connecting one of said beams to the driving or crank shaft, as a means of bal- 6 5 ancing the pistons and reducing the length of the crank or the throw of the eccentric below what would be required if a single beam were used.

It further consists in the combination, in an air-engine, of two working-cylii'lders provided with pistons, a walking or vibrating beam connected by suitable links or connecting-rods at each end to one of said working-pistons, and two reverser-pistons adapted to alternately change the air from the heating-chamber to the cooling-chamber, and vice versa.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan of an engine embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 is a front elevation.

A and A are two sin gle-acting workingcylinders, each provided with a furnace, J3 or B; and O and O are two reversercylinders, provided with furnaces D and D, all constructedsubstantially as described in another application of even date herewith.

E is the water-circulating pump 5 .E, the airpump; F, the aircooler; F, the crank secured to one end of the shaft F G, an adjustable eccentric mounted upon said shaft; G, the divided eccentric-rod; G a lever for operating the engine by hand, and H a governor connected by the lever H and shipper-rod H to the wedge for adjusting the eccentric G, all

constructed, arranged, and adapted to operate substantially as described in a second application of even date herewith.

The upper ends of the two working-cylinders A and A are connected together by the pipe I, through which direct communication is had between the interiors of said cylinders above their pistons, and by means of which and the pipe a, leading from the cooler F and connected with said pipe I, and provided with a check-valve, (6 air is forced by the pump E .into the chambers above the working-pistons of said cylinders, and other branches, to and a", of said pipe, each provided with a checkvalve, as shown, connect with the chambers above the pistons ofthe two rei erser-cylinders, substantially as described in the other applications heretofore cited.

The working-cylinder A and reverser-cylinder 0 are connected together by the air-pipe b, and their iurnaces are connected by the smoke-flue c, substantially as described in the other applications before cited, and the working-cylinder A and the re erser-cylinder'O are similarly connected by the pipe I), and their furnaces by the fine 0. v

The circulation of water for cooling the several parts of the working and reverser cylinders is substantially the same as in the second application before cited, except that the water, after leaving the cooler F and traversing the pipe d, is divided in the pipe (1 into two currents, which, moving in opposite directions along said pipe, enter the lower water-chambers in the two working-cylinders at the same time, and, after passing in succession through all of the water-chambers in said workingcylinders, the two currents pass through the pipes e and e to the reverser-cylinders O and C, respectively, and, continuing on through all the water-chambers contained in said cylinders, are finally discharged from the two flexible pipes f and f. \g The piston rods of the working-cylinders A and A are connected, by means of the crossheads K and K and suitablelinks, with the opposite ends of the beam L, mounted by central journals in bearings formed for the purpose in the stand L in such a manner that the pistons of the working-cylinders are moved in direct opposition to each other, and as a consequence the pressure above said pistons always remains uniform, the air above the piston which is moving upward escaping through the pipe 1 into the chamber above the piston which is making its downstroke.

The inner end ofthe beam L is connected, by the link g, to the inner end of the beam M, mounted by central journals in hearings in the top of the column B and connected at its other end, by the rod N, to the crank F in such a manner that the alternate reciprocations of the workingpistons and the consequent oscillations of the beams L and M will cause the shaft F to be rotated, carrying with it the eccentric G, which is set from seventyfive to ninety degrees in advance of the crank F, and acting upon the rod Gr causes the beam 0 to oscillate about its central journals, and acting through the link h, by which its inner end is connected to the beam P, imparts a similar oscillating motion to said beam P.

The piston-rods of the two reverser-cylinders are connected, by suitable links, one to each end of the beam P, and as said beam is vibrated said pistons are moved up and down inthe reverser-cylinders in direct opposition to each other, each acting to reverse the air in its cylinder and cause it to be alternately exposed to hot and cold surfaces, and thereby keep up a constant alternation of pressure heneath the piston of the working-cylinder, with which it is directly connected.

The operation of the engine as far as pertains to the improvements which form the subject of this patent will be readily understood from the foregoing description without further explanation.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination of two singleacting working-cylinders, each provided with a furnace or other means of applying heat thereto, and two reverser-cylinders, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination of two reverser-cylinders, each provided with a furnace or other means of applying heat thereto, and two single-acting working-cylinders, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described.

3. The combination of two single-acting working-cylinders having the spaces above their pistons connected by a pipe or passage, two reverser-cylinders having direct communication with the spaces beneath the workingpistons, and a furnace or other means of applying heat to the reversers or working-cylinders, substantially as described.

at. The combination of two working-cylinders and two reverser-cylinders with a furnace or other means of applying heat to each of the working and reversing cylinders, substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. In combination with two working-cylinders provided with pistons and adapted to be charged with compressed air upon both sides of said pistons and to be operated by alternately heating and cooling the compressed air upon one side only of each of said pistons, a pipe or passage connecting the chambers in the cool ends of said cylinders, substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. In combination with two cylinders, each provided with a reciprocating piston, two beams connected together by suitable links, and means of connecting one of said beams to the crank or driving shaft, substantially Executed at Boston, Massachusetts, this I0 as and for the purposes described. 28th day of April, A. D. 1 9.

7. The combination, in an air-engine, of two JAMES A. WOODBURY. working-cylinders provided with pistons con- JOSHUA MERRILL. 5 nected to opposite ends of a vibrating beam, GEO. PATTEN.

and two reversing-pistons adapted to a1ter- EDWARD FRANKLIN WOODBURY, nately change the air from a heating-cham- Witnesses: ber to a cooling-chamber, and vice versa, sub- N. O. LOMBARD,

stantially as described. E. A. HEMMENWAY. 

